Deadpool's ingenious trap for Venom...

...or 'What's up with the Thunderbolts at the moment'...

Having been neglecting my boy Wade Wilson's team book a little lately, I got caught up on Thunderbolts last night, and it was another strong issue in writer Charles Soule's solid run.

Individual team members have been getting to choose the T-Bolts' missions lately and in Thunderbolts #23 it was Deadpool's turn.

However, as Wade began to detail the wacked-out job he had in mind (which would kick off with the team kidnapping Ryan Reynolds), Agent Venom requested his turn (as he was about to leave the team), and Deadpool let him have it...

Concerned that the Venom symbiote might one day take him over, Flash Thompson wanted to prove to himself that it could be taken down. So Flash let the symbiote take the controls, and while most of his team-mates worked out scientifically feasible ways to stop Venom, based on its vulnerabilities--Deadpool had the idea of using a magic marker to make his own costume look like Spidey's and propping this up to use as bait for Venom - with the intention of dropping a jet plane on it.

Charles Soule writes good Deadpool and it's not the first time he's riffed on the similarities between the Merc with a Mouth and Spider-Man; this from an earlier issue...

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Thunderbolts has been a joy since the much-in demand Soule came on board, and with his departure imminent (presumably because he's currently on the hot list), writers Ben Acker & Ben Blacker (!?)--who worked on the last Deadpool and T-Bolts annuals--have big shoes to fill when they come on board with Thunderbolts #27. Though their debut arc looks promising...

You can check out Acker & Blacker talking to Comic Book Resources about their plans for Thunderbolts here.

Meanwhile, here's a Preview of next week's Thunderbolts #24:

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Marvel NOW! Facebook Fanpage!

My Marvel NOW! Fanpage has been building nicely, linking to the latest MN! news at Marvel.com, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources and more - and tying in with it having smashed through the 5,000 fans mark, I'm producing my first exclusive feature for it here!

*CONTAINS HUGE SPIDER-MAN NEWS! STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPIDER-SPOILERS!!!*

There are some big changes coming to the Spider-verse; a new Marvel Knights: Spider-Man series starts next month, Venom's series is ending...Scarlet Spider's series is reaching its climax with Scarlet Spider #25...

Doctor Octopus appears to be back from the dead in October in 'The Arms of The Octopus' - a story running through All-New X-Men Special #1, Indestructible Hulk Special #1 and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1 - something which naturally gets the attention of the Superior Spider-Man!

Meanwhile, in his own books, Superior Spider-Man reforms the Sinister Six - in a story arc beginning in next month's Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #5 - but to what end!? Then November kicks off major Spider-Event 'The Darkest Hour' in Superior Spider-Man #22 - which will see Venom taking on the Superior Spider-Man, and will introduce the Superior Venom!

So with all that going on for Ock-in-Spidey's-body, it doesn't look as though Peter Parker is gonna be back any time soon, right - ?

WRONG. In December, Peter Parker the Amazing Spider-Man returns with five special issues - Amazing Spider-Man #700.1-#700.5 - from a ton of writers and artists! A blizzard's crippling NY, Aunt May is in danger, Peter and Johnny Storm take on the Fantastic Four!? And what is The Black Lodge?

That's enough Spidey for now though, Poindexter, this wouldn't be a Sam Johnson Mighty Marvel Missive without mentioning my main man the Merc with a Mouth!

On the other side of 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' arc: in December's Deadpool #20, we're treated to another Deadpool flashback tale, as Wade Wilson goes all Kirby-style cosmic and teams with Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy; and then in Deadpool #21, artist Mike Hawthorne returns as Deadpool sets out to finally get his revenge on Gorman--the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who stiffed him on the bill for taking out the resurrected dead presidents.

If you never caught my interview with Mike, offering some intriguing insights into the Merc with a Mouth, you can find it here - and you can find tons more MN! News & Previews at my Marvel NOW! Facebook Fanpage here!

Thunderbolts #5 Preview

And the award for the weirdest Marvel NOW! cover yet goes to...

Next week's Thunderbolts #5...

...In which the Red Leader appears to have recovered from being shot in the head by the Punisher and superimposed himself onto the new issue's cover after stopping by the 'hood to pick up a new wardrobe.

Anyways, here's a Preview of the issue...where we can see the beginnings of Frank Castle and Elektra's 'perceived romance' (which, apparently, my boy Wade Wilson isn't gonna be too happy about)...

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Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts Variant Covers

Deadpool, Venom, Elektra, Punisher and their new team-leader Red Hulk, the initial line-up of the Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts, are getting a Billy Tan Variant each over the first 5 issues--all of which link up to form one image--and you can check 'em out here!:

The Punisher and Venom are looking swell in their new red-tinted uniforms, to fit with the whole 'Red Hulk's T-Bolts' thing, and I see Rulk himself also isn't opposed to conforming with a brand image, as he now has an unnecessary big gun. ;)

As mentioned, these five are to be the initial line-up of writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon's new team. More will be added once the book's rolling--who these are, yet be revealed--but you can find out some other stuff about the book here.

And for tons more MN! shiz, check out my Marvel NOW! Facebook Fanpage!

Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts #1

The Thunderbolts are to get the Marvel NOW! treatment in December with writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon at the helm, bringing the new line-up of Deadpool, Venom, Punisher, Elektra - led by Red Hulk (with more members to be added down the line).

Way and Dillon previously worked together on a Deadpool-'frienemy' Bullseye mini-series (also featuring The Punisher), Way has of course been writing the current Deadpool series since it began, and Dillon initially brought a new feel, and humor, to The Punisher as artist on some of writer Garth Ennis's run on Frank Castle.

There'd been rumors that there were new plans for Red Hulk after his book gets taken over by Red She-Hulk, and that The Punisher was going to be joining a team after his book ends--and this is a helluva line-up. Meanwhile, it's also been announced that writer Rick Remender will be leaving Uncanny X-Force and that will also be getting a Marvel NOW! relaunch--so does this mean the Merc with a Mouth will be jumping ship with him, or is Wade Wilson gonna 'do a Wolverine' and pull double-duty?

More news on that here when it hits, but for now, here's the promo blurb and a bit more on the new Thunderbolts, courtesy of editor Jordan D. White and Newsarama:

Forget the courts, the jails, the system--this team of Thunderbolts fights fire with fire, targeting the most dangerous and lethal players in the Marvel Universe with extreme prejudice. Led by General “Thunderbolt” Ross, AKA the Red Hulk, this hand-picked team of like-minded operatives is going to make the world a better place…by all means necessary.

"Unlike the most recent Thunderbolts, this group is not working for any government program — this is Red Hulk's team, to do with as he sees fit. In case you forgot, big red's secret ID is that of General "Thunderbolt" Ross, a well-respected military official who the world thinks was KIA. Well, just because he can't be part of the American Armed Forces doesn't mean he can't put together an armed force of his own.

"And again, if you look at the crew ol' T-Bolt has put together, you can get a sense of the kind of things he might be looking to do with them. They're a team of loners, but all highly trained and highly skilled as either mercenaries or soldiers. This is a black ops dream team. They're all characters with their own very particular morality, who do the things they do because they believe in them. They believe they are doing right, even if the world around them might not. Now that they're working together, they can set their sights even higher... and the world had better look out, because they won't take no for an answer."

As many of you know, I'm gunning to work on Deadpool, and having followed and enjoyed the various incarnations of the T-Bolts for some time, this is a book I'd also love to get my teeth into. But like Marvel NOW! Deadpool, obviously this a new book and a brand new creative team. Let's see what they bring.

Marvels

Taking a break from writing Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman and trying to crack working on Deadpool, I'm the guest on the new episode of SciFi Pulse's Wayne's Comics show, talking some of my favorite new Marvel comics/comics I'm looking forward to--and there's also a teaser on what's coming up for Cabra.

You can listen to the show here! :)

What If Venom possessed Deadpool?

As many of you are aware, I'm gunning to land a gig working on Deadpool, I've written some Deadpool Team-Up pitches and am trying to get Marvel to solicit a pitch from me by sending them published work. One of the Team-Up pitches I wrote was for Deadpool/Venom, which may or may not be nixed because of the 'What If Venom possessed Deadpool?' back-up series running through 4 issues of December's What If? So having written my own idea of a DP/Venom yarn, I was intrigued to see what the What If? story would be like...

Written by Rick Remender and illustrated by Shawn Moll & Mark Irwin, the story kicks off in the back of What If?: Iron Man - Demon in the Armor. In what looks set to somehow be a decades-spanning saga, The 'Boy George' Watcher of Earth 615.9 (who specializes in ropey reworkings of lyrics and mottos) introduces the tale in 1985: where we find Deadpool taking on one of the biggest cases of his career. He's hired by Galactus to off The Beyonder! ...But things are never gonna be straightforward with Deadpool.

What follows is the beginning of a Joe Kelly-influenced old-skool Deadpool tale in which Wade heads to a nightclub to take out the god-on-Earth Beyonder, but--taken with The Beyonder's charms and in awe of his '80s jheri curls--winds up becoming his new best bud.

Joining him--and Billy Ocean--on the party trail in The Beyonder's flying limo, everything's swell for Wade and his new '80s bud's--'til black costume Spider-Man shows up: blaming Beyondey for trapping him in the alien symbiote.

I won't give too much more away, but by the end of this first chapter, Wade's in the symbiote and we're off to the '90s as the story continues in What If?s Wolverine: Father and Spider-Man: Grim Hunt before concluding in What If?: Dark Reign. The story looks like it's gonna be a fun ride, and for those of you not picking up the What If? books, it's gonna be collected in a Venom/Deadpool one-shot in Feb.

If this story nixes my Deadpool/Venom Team-Up, I've got plenty more stories where it came from. As many of you know, as Marvel won't read unsolicited pitches, my main focus at the moment is my character Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman as she has similar sensibilities to Deadpool and--aside from the fact that I love writing her and have big plans for Cabra--her stuff showcases to Marvel that I could write Wade. Speaking of Cabra, her profile's about to be raised, as her debut story will be appearing in full color in Visionary Comics Digital's FREE Digital Visions #4 online soon.

You can join the Cabra Cini Facebook Group here to check out a Preview, and stay tuned for more news here!